a few 71' johnson 25 hp proplems

[chuckwagon]

My uncle gave me this motor in good condition a year ago and it ran perfect last summer. I took it out for the first few times this summer and it has got a pretty rough idle. I ran fresh gas from the get go to start this season. I mixed 5 1/2 gallons of non oxy with 16 ounces of oil mix. Is this too rich? Also the hand throttle is really noisy and is a little sticky. I took it apart and oiled and greased it but it did not help. I'm new to owning a boat so any help with these issues would be a great help. Thanks in advance!

[Eelpout08]

How was it stored last fall? If there was no stabilizer in the fuel in the motor then more that likely the idle circuits in the carb are gummed up. Best to pull the carb and give it a good cleaning and a carb kit.

Before you start that check the easier stuff just to make sure:

Throw some new spark plugs in

Take a good look at the plug wires and caps to make sure they aren't loose or cracked.

You can try adding Sea-Foam to a tank of gas but most often it doesn't clear it up.

[RiverFish]

I acquired a 1973 25 horse johnson which was running a little rough in my opinion. I ran and continue to run sea foam through it and it has been running great for 2 years now. Worth giving it a shot.

New plugs is, as stated earlier, is also a good idea.

[boatfixer]

Have you tried adjusting the low speed idle mixture? There is an idle mixture knob on the front of the motor. A good starting point for that mixture needle is about 1 1/2 turns out from lightly seated. From there you can slowly and incrimentally adjust it to see if it clears up. Clockwise leans the mix while counter clock wise richens the mix.

If that doesnt help along with a clean set of plugs then it sounds like you may have a dirty carb. Rebuilding the carburator on that engine is relatively easy and straight forward depending on you mechanical abilities.

[hamms-scooter]

Also could check the points. Might be dirty from sitting. I have a 1970 25 johnson and had some neglected work done to it when i got it. had them check everything and they regapped the points and cleaned them with paper.good luck

[chuckwagon]

Thanks all for the help. So far I checked plugs and they were pretty wet .. probably to much oil? But its an old motor so mixing a bit heavy cant hurt I supose. I also adjusted the low speed needle and that really seemed to help out ... next i'll sea foam and check points! thanks for saving me a stupid head ache all.